Four year municipal terms?

by Castanet Staff - Story: 54877 May 31, 2010 / 5:00 pm

Question: Do you support a recommendation that would allow municipal politicians to serve four years instead of the current three?

Yes 342
No 419

Total Votes: 761

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by Wayne Moore - Castanet Jun 1, 2010 / 5:00 am Mayor supports election reform

Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd supports changes to the Municipal Elections Act. Among the recommendations put forth by the elections task force Monday is a move to four year municipal terms and a wide array of changes surrounding financial contributions, disclosure and spending.
Currently, mayors and council are elected for three year terms.
Among the other 31 recommendations is the elimination of anonymous campaign contributions, a ceiling on how much a candidate can spend on a campaign and a specific date when campaign contributions can be disclosed.

While Shepherd says she was neither for or against four year terms, she says there are benefits to the additional year. "The comment about the four years is it takes (especially for new councillors) a good year to really feel comfortable with the role, then in the second year a lot of good work happens and in the third year people start to campaign." She says the extra year would give mayors and council another year to be productive.

"The other benefit is the cost saving because running an election is very expensive. Having it every four years would certainly eliminate some of the cost." Shepherd says the big challenge may be getting candidates who are willing to commit for the additional year, especially if they have aspirations of running for a senior government position. The mayor, going into her 14th year on council, says she hasn't thought about whether a fourth year would have any bearing on a possible run for a third term as mayor.